A Quick Guide to RELAY's Coffee Drinks

Do you get overwhelmed by the drink selection when you walk into a coffee shop? I'm sure RELAY is no exception. We offer a diverse range of coffee and tea drinks that can leave some folks a little confused. This is our attempt to provide clarity.

First here’s a sweet graphic that a friend of ours designed to show you what goes into our drinks:

Espresso Drink Recipes

Traditionally, espresso drinks didn’t have size options (small, medium, large). If you wanted espresso with more milk than a cappuccino, then you ordered a latte. Espresso beverages are basically variations on the ratio of espresso to milk. There are also differences in the amount of foam, but the main difference is the amount of espresso in relation to the amount of milk.

It can get really confusing when one coffee shop makes drinks slightly different than the other.

Coffee Origins

We choose to purchase our coffee from an importer who brings green beans to Canada from many different countries. Buying from an importer saves us the work of importing our own shipping container of green coffee. It also guarantees that a third party has inspected the farms and approves are their working conditions. Here’s a list of what we typically have available on our shelves along with some tasting notes:

A Note About Espresso Beans

Espresso refers to specific brewing method. Often people assume that espresso refers to a type of bean. However, there aren’t “espresso beans”, there are just beans that are carefully roasted to taste best when brewed as espresso. You can use any coffee for espresso, though some roast profiles lend themselves to better flavours and a better taste when brewed in an espresso machine.

We experimented with different origins and created a special blend we think works wonderfully when brewed as espresso. It's a mix of our favourite dark roast combined with a small percentage of our light roasts. It also makes an amazing pour-over coffee!

We send out an email each month to our Bright Notes subscribers. To get a note in your inbox with brewing tips, coffee info, when we're offering a new coffee blend or cold brew, and when we're going to some cool event,sign up here.